Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Ban Live Export

Dear Friends,
I cant think about organising this morning as my thoughts are consumed by the horrendous clips of video that have been on our media here in Australia about the way animals are tortured in Indonesia after being exported live, from here. If this also outrages you, please sign the petition that is going to our Parliament to ban the live export.
If you are upset by animal cruelty as I am, please DON"T WATCH the footage as it is extremely disturbing, just sign the petition. Its through email so its very easy.
Thank you for your time,
Love Sarndra

http://www.animalsaustralia.org/take_action/festival-of-sacrifice/

P.s. Later I will be discussing the slightly less controversial issue of kitchen pantry organisation, so stay tuned :-) xx

11 comments:

  1. As an animal lover and someone who grew up on a farm, I was disgusted at the lack of respect shown to another living creature. Animal cruelty turns my stomach.
    To be fair, not all recipients of the live animal trade are so barbaric in their practices, it's always a few rotten apples. Nevertheless, there is no excuse.
    Perhaps if you could for a few minutes take time to think about the people who rely on live animal exports for their income. Are you prepared to compensate farmers in the way of a tax, for example a subsidy like farmers in Europe and the U.S. are paid, for their loss of income if live animal exports are banned? The agricultural industry in this country is so unsupported by the government and people in general. As long as there is food in the supermarkets, everyone is happy.
    Does anyone stop and think about the blood, sweat and tears that go into getting that food to the table? Wheat farmers that have been in drought for years, struggling to grow grain so we have bread on the table. If we don't support our agricultural industry, we will be importing our food. Not a pleasant thought in light of recent occurences of nasty things being added to milk products from China. And here are the two supermarket giants lowering the price of 2 litres of milk to $2.00. Do you know how much a dairy farmer gets for a litre of milk? Not much if they supply the big supermarkets as they have been screwed right down to the ground.
    Back to live exports. There has been a push in the past to ban live sheep exports to the middle east because of the conditions on board the ships. I am not saying there haven't been bad conditions in the past, but the recipiants of live sheep in the middles east will not accept sheep that are ill or in bad condition. So it is not in the economic interest of those selling the sheep not care for them in transit.
    I'm with you on animal cruelty, there just is a much bigger picture to be taken into consideration.

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  2. P.s I promise I won't make a regular habit of posting irrrelevant stuff on my blog, but I just feel very strongly about this one and we need many people to sign the petition. Thanks for understanding :-) If you are over seas and you would like to sign the petition, you just enter Non- Australian in the bit where it asks for State.
    Xxo

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  3. Hi Anne,
    Thanks so much for your valid point. My husband and I are aware of the points you raised, its always important to consider the other side of the story that doesn't get media attention.
    I do however personally feel very strongly about this topic and that is why I personally have signed the petition.
    Also we will never buy the cheap milk, we only support local dairy farmers who are paid the right amount, as I'm sure you do.
    Thanks for visiting,I hope you have a lovely day
    Xxo Sarndra

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  4. I agree - it is such awful treatment of these animals and it is inexcuseable! Good on you for speaking up about things that you are passionate about; that's what's great about blogging I reckon - getting to read about what's going on in the world and how it affects us all.
    Lus x

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  5. I signed a petition yesterday. The Four Corners program made me feel quite ill to the point where I couldn't watch it anymore. On the ABC radio this morning it was reported that people had been ringing up their politicians in a very distressed state, some even crying uncontrollably to plead with them to do something to help these poor animals! How awful it is :(

    xTania

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  6. Hi Lus & Tania,
    Yes it is so distressing. I do feel for the people who would lose their income but at the same time I really dont think this level of torture is necessary- surely if governments ban live exporting then the Indonesian government and others, would be forced to make changes in their abbatoirs. I know that we here in Aus also do terrible things to animals, such as the sheep mulesing which is horrendous, and I also sign petitions about that and have written to MP's. I know a lot of terrible things happen all over the world every single day and I always sign petitions for things that make me cry, I cant just sit back and do nothing.
    Thank you ladies for sharing my grief and for supporting my post, it really means a lot to me.
    Xxox Sarndra
    P.s Anne I grew up in the country too and it breaks my heart the way farmers are treated and many hundred commit suicide every year due to absolute desperation. I too would always be prepared to pay more for our food to ensure farmers are paid fairly.

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  7. I've signed the petition. Like you, Sarndra, I support my local dairy industry by buying local milk and cheese.

    ♥ RJ

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  8. This was my must-post topic today too. As I said in my blog post, I think the way we, as humans, treat animals is a reflection of our true selves - what does it say about us if we allow this type of treatment to continue? This is (not surprisingly) a topic I feel very strongly about too - I am against all live animal trade. I cry when I see a load of sheep on the back of a truck. It breaks my heart. :(
    ~S.

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  9. I hope you don't mind me commenting a bit about the mulesing of sheep. I agree that the practice is terrible, awful and I hate it. However having seen sheep die an agonising death from being fly blown, a small part of me can understand why it is done as well as the practice of tailing lambs. Australia is not a country where sheep should live, our conditions here are just not suitable for the mainly Merino wrinkly wool sheep that is bred here. That being said, they are here and they need to be taken care of in the best possible way.
    My brother farms grain and sheep. A number of years ago, he recognised the problem of mulesing sheep and responded by entering into a breeding programme where he crossed a Merino sheep with another breed of sheep with a non wrinkly skin. An added advantage was that these sheep had a high fertility rate and were also a good meat sheep. To cut a long story short my brother now has a sheep that does not need mulesing, crutching is all that is necessary. It is also a good sheep for meat eating, more often will give birth to twins, with some giving birth to triplets. In some cases the sheep have an udder with four teats instead of two to cope with triplets. The added bonus is that because of the Merino genes, the wool is still of remarkable quality. Win, win I'd say.
    Just wanted to let you know that their are some very innovative farming people out there trying to do their bit and give you some hope that not all sheep are still being mulesed.
    Thank you for being passionate about these issues, as awareness and education will surely bring about changes for the better.

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  10. Thanks Rhonda <3 I hope you are having a lovely night with Jamie! :-) Cant wait to hear about it.

    Hi Sorcha! Thanks so much, will pop over to your post now. x

    Hi again Anne,
    No I dont mind at all- what a wonderful brother you have!! Thank you so much for sharing that with us, I think thats wonderful Xx
    I think I saw something on those sheep on Landline (one of my fave TV shows) a while ago, its just wonderful that these farmers are breeding better types of sheep! Its really remarkable. I so look forward to the day when only those new improved breeds are here in Aus-and making more money for the farmers- wouldnt that be great?
    Thank you so much for your comments here, I really appreciate your point of view :-)
    "see" u again soon
    Xx Sarndra

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  11. I have sent letters to politicians, signed the petitions. This evil trade has to be stopped!

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